Theranostics refers to the integration of specialized diagnosis and therapy, which makes it possible to arrive at a comprehensive diagnostic and an individual treatment regimen by embracing various techniques. With the emerging of material chemistry and nanomedicine, theranostic probes have received extensive attention as a robust tool for monitoring diagnostic or therapeutic efficacy in cancer research. The novel theranostic probes hold great potential in the assessment of cancer at its earliest stages, determining its precise location within the body, monitoring the in vivo drug delivery to target tumor site, and evaluating the therapeutic efficacy following treatment. Such theranostic probes would definitely change the way we diagnose, image, and treat cancer.

This special issue would focus on the various probes that are extensively developed for cancer diagnostics and therapeutics. This issue accepts original research articles as well as review articles that will show a diversity of new developments in these areas. It will establish a multidisciplinary forum of discussion on diverse theranostic probes capable of simultaneously imaging and treating cancer.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Magnetic nanoparticle-based theranostic probes
• Radionuclide nanoparticle-based theranostic probes
• Optical imaging probes
• Ultrasound imaging probes
• Raman imaging probes
• Photoacoustic imaging probes
• Reporter gene-based theranostic probes